Spectrum
by cein
Summary: A sequence of standalone stories working their way through the spectrum. 5 Green - Jealousy can be a terrible thing
1. Infra Red

Title: Infra Red

Characters/Pairing: Team, Jack/Ianto

Rating: T

Summary: Hide and seek the Torchwood way

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Torchwood characters, I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.

Somewhat of a crack fic, I may work my way through the rest of the spectrum. Mild slashiness

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Infra red

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Ianto held his breath when he heard the footsteps, willing them to move away from his hiding place. But his luck was out. The footsteps paused, then moved as if the owner was turning around, looking at his surroundings…and then walked straight over to Ianto's lair. There was a rustling noise as the figure crawled in beside Ianto and whispered in his ear, "Gotcha!"

Ianto relaxed as he felt Jack wrap an arm around him. He sighed, "Sir, you do realize that using the Infra Red sensors to find me is strictly speaking, cheating?"

"Of course," said Jack, and even in the dark, Ianto could feel him smiling. "That's why I disabled them after I'd seen where you were hiding! Honestly, you certainly choose some great places. Nobody will ever find you here!"

"Yes, that was the general idea."

"Oh come on, there's just you and me, alone in the dark…" Jack snuggled up even closer, "And under the rules of Sardines, I believe we're supposed to get real close to each other." He suited the action to the word.

"I should have known that's why you suggested it."

"And the others will take ages to find us!" Jack's hand moved lower on Ianto's body.

Ianto, who had been listening to more than just Jack's voice, carefully removed his hand to a more PG rated location, seconds before a torch was shone in his face.

"Hah!" said Owen, "Gotcha!"

"Ouch," yelped Jack, as Owen scrambled in beside them. "That was my knee."

"Shove over," grumbled Owen. "Jeez Ianto, you could have picked somewhere more comfortable."

"How did you find me?" asked Ianto, somewhat surprised, and knowing that Owen had never shown any particular talent for the game before.

"Easy," said Owen, and Ianto could tell he was smirking, "Lover boy here seems to have a built in radar where you're concerned, so I hid until he left and just followed him."

"That's cheating!" said Jack, a trace of indignation in his voice.

"Pot, meet kettle," muttered Ianto under his breath as he tried to make himself comfortable in the confined space.

Before either of the others could answer, they heard the sound of footsteps approaching confidently and a few seconds later, Tosh joined them.

"Oh…I thought I'd be here first," said Tosh.

"Why?" asked Owen suspiciously, shining his torch in her direction.

"Why Toshiko," said Jack, "Is that a hand held Keesogdnaedih scanner in your pocket or are you just pleased to see us?"

"You cheated," said Owen.

Ianto rolled his eyes and wondered if he could sneak out of the other side of his hidey-hole without anyone noticing.

"Well this was supposed to be a training exercise…and I figured I needed the practice at calibrating it," said Tosh. "It just took me a little longer than I expected."

"So now we just have to wait for Gwen to find us," said Jack.

"We should probably get comfortable then," said Ianto, a little grumpily, as he had been hoping for a bit of peace and quiet while waiting to be found. "This could take a while."

Several floors away, a flashlight bobbed up and down. "Ianto?" called Gwen in a loud whisper. "Where are you?"

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The End


	2. Red

Title: Red

Characters/Pairing: Jack/Ianto

Rating: T

Summary: Jack has seen a lot of blood, but it's never easy when it belongs to his team.

Genre: Angsty, slash

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Torchwood characters, I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.

Notes/Warning: Part of my spectrum sequence, but not connected to part 1

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Red

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The tiny droplet of blood hardly made a sound as it splashed onto the pale skin.

To Jack's ears however, it was loud enough to make his heart skip a beat. He bit back his exclamation, not wanting to reveal his feelings, embarrassed by the strength of his reaction to such a tiny thing. "It's just a drop of blood," he told himself, watching as the redness trickled a little further before soaking into the skin. "Barely noticeable, it'll heal up in no time, there's nothing to worry about."

But innocuous and all as that short trail of blood was, it still sent a chill through Jack's veins. So much blood had been shed; so much more would be shed. If they were lucky their cuts would heal, their scars would fade…but sooner or later their luck would run out, and a small drop of blood would be followed by a deluge impossible to stem. Sooner or later, Jack knew he could have their blood on his hands.

His blood of course would start flowing again sooner or later. They could not be so lucky.

Jack hated the sight of their blood, knowing it was a sign of their frailty, their transience. He'd barely managed to stop himself from freaking out a few days earlier when Tosh had squealed in pain following a nasty paper cut. Owen had been flippant, telling her to just wash her finger and put a band-aid on it. Jack had nearly snapped at him, wondering how Owen could fail to understand that every drop of blood shed was another battle lost against their own mortality.

Jack knew he couldn't be there all the time to fight that battle for them, but when he could do something, he did. Reaching out, he took the razor from Ianto's hand and kissed lightly at the cut on his face, cleaning away the tiny bloodstain. "Your face will be cut to ribbons if you're not more careful!"

"Well it's a bit bloody hard to concentrate with you leering at me like that!" said Ianto trying unsuccessfully to take the razor back. "Jack! I can't go to work half shaved!"

"Let me," said Jack. He cupped Ianto's cheek in one hand, gently stroking the stubble with his thumb.

"Is this yet another of your cunning plans to persuade me back into bed and make me late for work…again?"

Jack forced a smile, "It could be!"

Ianto rolled his eyes, "Well don't keep me waiting then." He closed his eyes as Jack brought the razor towards his skin, and didn't notice the look in his Captain's eyes.

This time it was only a drop of blood…this time.

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The End


	3. Orange

Title: Orange

Characters/Pairing: Team, Jack/Ianto

Rating: T

Summary: There's no such thing as an ordinary day in Torchwood

Genre: Humour!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Torchwood characters, I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.

Notes: Part 3 of my Spectrum sequence.

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The sound of Gwen's scream echoed round the Hub.

"Gwen? What's wrong?" asked Jack. He'd only just stepped out of his office, said 'good morning' to Gwen as she'd walked into the Hub, and then she'd taken one look at him and screamed.

Gwen seemed unable to talk, simply pointing at Jack and gasping in shock.

"What's wrong?" asked Jack, concern in his voice. "It's me, Gwen." He patted his face, relieved to feel the familiar contours, which meant that he hadn't been zapped with a shape-shifting ray…again. Looking down he saw that yes, he was still clothed, although people didn't tend to scream when they saw him naked…at least not immediately…and then it was usually more in delight than fear or shock.

"Oh my God, Jack," Gwen managed to stammer. "Your…your face!"

"My face?" Now there was a note of panic in Jack's voice. "What's wrong with my face? Do I have a zit? Oh God…not a wrinkle!"

With shaking hands, Gwen opened her make up compact and held it up in front of Jack. He took one look and added his scream to Gwen's original one.

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"You're orange," said Owen, flatly. The three were in the Medical bay where Owen – after gaping for a good five minutes at Jack's new skin tone - had shone a light on Jack's face and pronounced his verdict.

"Yeah, I'd kind of figured that much," snapped Jack. "What the hell is it? And how do I get rid of it?"

Owen shrugged, "Buggered if I know. Have you tried washing it off?" This earned him a withering glance from Jack. "Okay, fine." Owen poked Jack's cheek with a gloved finger. "Did that hurt?"

"No, but if you do it again I'll hurt you!"

"Do you think it's contagious?" asked Gwen.

"I don't even know what it bloody is yet," grumbled Owen. "I'll have to run some tests…just let me get a sample…" He picked up a scalpel. "This may sting a bit…"

"Oh no," said Jack, "You're not getting near me with that thing!" He backed away from Owen. "Look, I'll just go and shoot myself and whatever it is will be gone when I revive."

"Yeah well just be sure and clean up after yourself. You know how narky Ianto gets when he has to clean up after you bleedin out."

"Owen!" said Gwen. "Jack, you can't do that. We have to find out what it is…I mean if it's contagious, anybody you've been in contact with could be infected."

"Ianto!" gasped Jack, "Where is he?"

"Tea boy's in the Tourist Office," said Owen, "And as of ten minutes ago, he didn't look like an over grown Oompa Loompa." He paused for a few seconds before adding, "Course if this thing spreads by touch, then it might not be his face he's got to worry about…and I can't believe I just fucking said that." He rolled his eyes in disgust.

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Ianto was indeed in the Tourist Office, sitting behind the counter when his phone rang.

"Sir, is there something you require?"

"No…my face isn't orange…nor any other part of my body last time I looked…no, I am not going to check that now…for one thing it's highly inappropriate, for another, the door isn't locked and anybody could walk in…no, you do not need to come up here and check for yourself…oh if you insist I'll do it myself…"

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Jack replaced the phone. "Well it definitely doesn't spread by touch," he said, a little gloomily. "Ianto's the same colour he always is."

"I so did not need to hear that," growled Owen. He was busy rummaging through drawers, finally coming up with a handful of cotton swabs and a few plastic jars. "Okay Harkness, I'm gonna need skin samples, hair, blood, everything…and I mean everything…" He slapped the jars into Jack's hand. "In the meantime…well normally I'd stick you in isolation, but if you were contagious then Ianto would be looking like a Satsuma by now. And if worst comes to worst you'll keel over and be right as rain in a few minutes."

"But what if I have to go out?" asked Jack plaintively. "I can't be seen in public looking like this."

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"You know Ianto," said Tosh, "Putting a cheap fake tan in Jack's expensive anti aging night time moisturizer…that really wasn't very nice of you. What if he'd had an allergic reaction or something?"

"I did a spot test a few nights ago, got no reaction," said Ianto, his eyes firmly fixed on the monitor he'd hooked up to the internal security cameras. "And it'll fade in a few days. Maybe teach him to stop wasting his money on creams that don't do anything."

"Still, I think you should tell him, Owen's going to be running tests on him all day." Tosh headed for the door. "If you don't tell him, I will!"

"You might want to wait a bit," said Ianto. "Gwen's just given him her make up so he can try and tone it down…but if you don't want to see it…"

Tosh sat down beside Ianto again, "Pass the popcorn!"

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The End


	4. Yellow

Title: Yellow  
Author: Ceindreadh  
Characters/Pairing: Ianto, team, Ianto/Jack implied  
Word Count: about 700  
Rating: T for angst and dark themes  
Summary: Courage can be hard to come by Warning: Set post Countrycide (mild spoilers for eps 7 and 8)  
WARNING: may need tissues Unbeta'ed Part 4 of the Spectrum sequence.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Torchwood characters, I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.

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Everybody thought he was so brave the way he'd faced up to the cannibals. Tosh had called him her hero the day after, insisting that if it hadn't been for his bravery, she'd never have escaped even for only a short period of time. Even Owen had grudgingly admitted that he hadn't done too bad for a tea boy. "Course I always figured you had a thick head on you," he'd added, but there'd been a note of respect in his voice.

They all thought he'd been brave to fight the cannibals and help Tosh escape...but they were wrong. Ianto hadn't done it because he was brave...he'd done it because he didn't have anything left to lose. Even as he'd told Tosh to watch for his signal, he'd been weighing up his options...and there weren't many. Best-case scenario, Tosh and he both got away...worst-case scenario, they killed him. He hadn't really cared whether that happened or not.

So much for being brave, in reality he'd been just a coward, a big yellow streak down his back. If any of the team had known what he'd been thinking, they wouldn't have been praising and hugging him, they'd have scorned him for the coward he was. Too scared to live, yet even more scared of being the one to pull the trigger...but maybe not too scared to let somebody else pull the trigger...or wield the meat cleaver.

At least that's what Ianto had thought when he'd head butted the leader. He hadn't really thought much beyond that point, figuring that he'd either escape with Tosh or be killed where he stood. Lying on the ground, head spinning, body aching, he heard them chase after Tosh and almost smiled, knowing that he'd given her at least a fighting chance. He'd seen the butt of the gun coming towards him as if in slow motion, and he hadn't flinched, welcoming the darkness it brought.

He'd almost cried when he woke up to the realization that it hadn't been a fatal blow. Although at first, in the blackness, with the taste of blood in his mouth, he hadn't been sure whether he was alive or dead. It wasn't until he felt the blade at his neck that he knew he was still alive, and more than that, knew that he *wanted* to live...or at lease not to die, not like this, bound and gagged and filthy, his unheard screams echoing in his mind.

Yet another example of the yellow streak of cowardice running through him, that he couldn't even face his death with dignity and courage, but then there was nothing dignified about this crude and dirty ending that was facing him.

Gwen was the brave one, he thought, willing to put herself in the same room as the leader. Willing to face him again to seek out answers. All Ianto could do was hide in the daylight...the daylight he'd once thought or maybe hoped he'd never see again.

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It took a month of shape shifting aliens and mind reading pendants and crazy weevils, before Ianto told anybody the truth about that night in the Beacons.

A near miss when he and Jack had been tracking a Weevil had Jack yelling at Ianto for not getting out of the way in time and shouting at him about having a death wish.

"Not anymore, Sir," had been Ianto's involuntary reply. It had almost shocked him to say it out loud, and more so to realize that it was true. Not that he was especially fond of this world any more, but it was better than the alternative...the unknown. Probably just another sign of his yellow streak he told himself.

But to his surprise, it was Jack who had convinced him otherwise. "Sometimes the bravest thing you can do in this life is live it," he had told Ianto. "Every day, just surviving...just getting through another twenty four hours without giving up. That's what takes real courage, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise."

They'd drunk to that and other things, and a week or so later Ianto had taken his courage in his hands and clicked on a stopwatch and started to find that there were more reasons to live than he had once believed.

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The End


	5. Green

Title: Green  
Author: Ceindreadh  
Characters/Pairing: Jack/Ianto, team  
Word Count: 500  
Rating: T  
Summary: Jealousy can be an ugly thing  
Genre: Humour Part 5 of the Spectrum sequence.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Torchwood characters, I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.

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Green

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Jack Harkness had never thought of himself as a jealous guy. In the fifty first century, relationships were much more fluid and flexible than the twenty first, and it would never have occurred to him to feel jealous that a lover of his was spending more time with others than with him. But he'd been away from the fifty first century for a long time now, and with over a hundred years on Earth, trying to blend in with local customs and morals, he's kind of gotten used to the whole 'one at a time' theory of relationships. Or at least he *thought* he had.

Oh sure there's always been people around who throw off the shackles of conventional behaviour and are willing to try something different. Jack spent most of the twentieth century waiting for the sixties and the sexual revolution. He won't admit to anybody that it wasn't 'supposed' to start until the nineteen seventies only he got a little impatient and started dropping hints in the right ears.

So Jack isn't a jealous guy. He's never felt that green eyed monster sitting on his back pointing out just how much fun his current lover is having without him.

Until now.

Jack knows it's irrational to feel this way. He knows that there is no threat to his relationship...he knows that he is more important than the...other. He knows that no matter how much time is spent in the...other's company, that *he* will not be the one alone that night. He knows that if he picked up the phone, that his lover would drop the...other, and come running. Jack knows that *he* comes first...metaphorically speaking that is...in the bedroom...in his office...up against a wall in the dark...well that's a different matter...

But all of this is distracting him from the main point...that there are times that Jack is not the centre of Ianto's universe...and even though these times are limited in duration - although sometimes quite frequent in occurrence - Jack can't help but feel somewhat jealous.

He'd watched in secret more than once. Watched as Ianto's fingers moved so quickly and expertly...listened to the noises those movements generated...seethed inwardly at the look of delight on Ianto's face. Jack wants to be the centre of Ianto's universe. He wants to be the one to make him smile like that.

Jack knows that he can't even confide in anybody. Owen would laugh and call him a tosser. Tosh would tell him that she wasn't the one he needed to be talking to. And Gwen would probably give him a hypocritical lecture on trust and honesty in relationships.

No, Jack knew that he couldn't confide in anybody...he knew that he was the only person who could deal with this. As he stood in the doorway watching Ianto work his magic again, Jack knew one thing...that brand new bright and shiny coffee machine would *have* to go.

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The end


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